Hell Can't Hold True Love Back
by plague2005
Summary: What if Bonnie escaped from the Prison World in Season 6 instead of Damon? How would things fall into place with them switching places? This is a rewrite of Season 6 eventhough I loved it and putting my ideas into a story. Delena centric. Bamon friendship. Steroline maybe.
1. Author's Notes

**Author's Notes**

This story is about rewriting Season 6 events. I have taken some liberties on how it happens. I have eliminated some of the stuff that I don't like from the season so please don't get offended if you liked them. To highlight them,

\- Sheriff Liz won't have any health problems in my story. I like her and I need her in my story.

\- I am not keeping Bonnie/Jeremy together. Not my favourite couple and I prefer Bonnie away from Jeremy in my story. I am thinking of Bonnie and Enzo together but not in the plans yet.

\- One of my least liked characters is Caroline so I will not write too much (if at all) about her and her drama. Since this story does a different take on Damon's situation, Stefan will be busy with that drama. Caroline doesn't lose her humanity since Sheriff doesn't die.

\- Mama Salvatore is still in my story along with the heretics. However, unlike the show where they had pretty big continuity problems, I am taking a different route in mine.

\- I am doing a different take on Gemini coven in my story. They may come off as bad guys to some but that makes them more interesting than the vague view of them in the show.

\- Finally Bonnie is going to be truly a badass in my story. Read and see how she grows.

And to point out the obvious, Delena is the main focus of the story with Bamon friendship. Other relationships will appear but not be the primary focus.

This story starts at the point of the prison world escape in Episode 05 of Season 6. The story will go similar to the show until the prison world collapse and then change direction.

Now let's get onto the story.


	2. The World Has Turned and Left Me Here

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything or anyone associated with the show or the book series. The Vampire Diaries is solely the property of the CW and L J Smith.

* * *

Stefan walked into the Salvatore crypt. His eyes are sad and he takes a swig out of the bourbon bottle he had in his hand. Feeling it burn in his throat, he laughs miserably.

"Yep... This is happening. I'm gonna talk out loud to a... a crypt filled with my dead family."

His eyes looks around the crypt staring at all the buried coffins and their name stones.

"Everyone but you, Damon. Because wherever you are, it's not here."

He takes a seat unable to stand anymore at a small bench in the crypt.

"I gotta say... I'm not doing so great without you. I keep trying to start over, but... I can't get anywhere. Because I'm lost, brother. I'm lost."

His voice was breaking in sorrow and grief. He was struggling with the emotions he was feeling and a flicker of thought came in his mind that maybe Elena's method of handling the grief was not too bad. But then he knew that Damon wouldn't want him to lose his humanity and he didn't want to forget his brother.

This struggle made him angry and he got up and threw the bottle in anger at the far end of the wall in vamp strength. The bottle crashed with a thud and glass pieces flew everywhere while the bourbon stained the wall.

The crash brought out a moaning sound that was barely audible. Human ears couldn't have heard it but with his vampire hearing, Stefan was able to hear it. Initially he thought it was some homeless person taking shelter but he got curious. He walked over to see a body lying on the ground at the far end of the corner under a pile of clothes. He could smell the person bleeding and he thought it was caused by the shards of glasses. He immediately got to the person trying to help.

When he turned the body, he got the shock of his life.

"Bonnie?" He called out unable to believe. She moaned louder this time and he could see she was bleeding from her abdomen. Immediately he opened a vein in his hand and fed her the blood. She drank from it and her bleeding started to stop and giving her some strength. She opened her eyes.

"How are you here? How did you get back? Where's Damon?" Stefan bombarded her with questions that was rushing into his mind.

At the mention of Damon, Bonnie started to panic frantically looking everywhere around her and started thrashing. Stefan held her back to calm her down before she hurt herself. After a moment, she started to calm down and Stefan helped her get up and they both sat down in the bench he was sitting before.

"Bonnie. What happened?" Stefan asked softly.

"Damon…" Bonnie whispered softly unable to formulate a sentence.

 _*****Flashback*****_

" _I'm sure there are about a billion people you'd rather be here with" Damon tells Bonnie holding her hand._

 _She smiles at him. "Not exactly." Damon responds with his own smile reflecting the sentiments. During their time imprisoned in a world with no contacts except for a psychopath, they both have connected with one another._

" _Let's go…" before Bonnie could finish her sentence, she yells out "Ah!" and falls to the floor. There's an arrow sticking in her abdomen. Damon whirls around angry when he notices Kai with a crossbow._

" _Forgetting someone?" Kai asked nonchalantly._

" _Did you really think I hadn't tried to kill myself before?" He continues talking while reloading his crossbow. Damon turns around to look at Bonnie who was grunting in pain. He looks at the ascendant and Kai notices that too._

" _Grab that, and the next arrow goes in her heart. Your choice." He warns pointing his crossbow at Bonnie. Bonnie moans again and Damon was by her side in a blink holding her. He bites into his wrist opening a vein ready to heal Bonnie when she noticed that Kai was getting close to the Ascendant._

" _DAMON, NO!" Bonnie warns him about Kai and Damon super speeds to Kai and shoves him to the wall. He had dragged Bonnie closer to the Ascendant when he did and she grabbed the Ascendant. She also noticed that she was under the spot where they were supposed to be._

" _Damon, Come on." Bonnie urged him knowing that time was close. Damon turned around to look at her and Kai used the momentary distraction to stab Damon in the neck with his arrow. Damon grunts in pain but doesn't let go of Kai. Tolerating the pain, he snaps Kai's neck and let him crumple to the floor. He turned around just in time to see Bonnie disappear into the limelight._

" _Goodbye, Bon Bon." He whispers to her._

 _*****End of Flashback*****_

Bonnie shakes involuntarily at the memory after finishing telling Stefan what happened. Stefan stood there still trying to wrap his mind around the fact that his brother was alive and stuck in a prison world unable to escape. Bonnie starting to cry woke him up from his shock and he helped her stand up and take her someplace else.

* * *

 **A/N:** One of the annoying things in this episode is how Kai with no powers overpowered Damon. He could have just snapped Kai's neck and be done with it instead of struggling with the crossbow. So I changed it in my story. Please Review. It is very much appreciated.


	3. The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything or anyone associated with the show or the book series. The Vampire Diaries is solely the property of the CW and L J Smith.

* * *

Caroline and Elena were getting ready to go to bed at their dorm when someone was knocking. They wondered who it could be late at night and Caroline went to open the door. She saw Stefan standing at their doorstep.

"Stefan. I can't deal with you right now. It has been a real rough night and I am exhausted. So goodbye." Caroline said and tried to close the door. Stefan stopped it with his hands before she closed it.

"I am not here about me. I came to leave somebody here with you." He said nervously.

"What? Another one of your girlfriends that Enzo turned? Sorry I can't deal with her too." Caroline wasn't budging.

"No. Wait." Stefan said exasperated. He helped Bonnie who had slid down the corridor unable to keep on standing.

"Bonnie?" Caroline whispered unable to believe what she was seeing. Elena with her superhuman hearing heard the whisper and moved closer to the door.

"Oh my god Bonnie." They both yelled and dragged their friend into a tight embrace. Bonnie whimpered slightly from the strength of two vampires hugging her and not having recovered fully.

"Oh. Did we hurt you? Are you alright? Do you need blood?" Caroline started a tirade of questions. Elena silently looked at her friend who seemed to be in distress.

"Caroline. Let her sit down." She said softly reminding her friend. Caroline gave an apologetic smile and they both let Bonnie sit down.

"I'll come back and check on you guys later." Stefan said from the doorway. Caroline didn't look at him but Elena gave him a nod of thanks. He closed the door as he left the friends alone.

Bonnie sat in her bed with her friends sitting beside her and letting her settle down emotionally. After about an hour of silence, Bonnie started to recite the story of her time in prison world and eventual escape.

After she finished telling her story, she turned around to look at two astonished faces.

"Damon sacrificed himself so you can escape?" Elena asked confused. "Why would he?" She couldn't wrap her mind around the idea with her memories of him.

Bonnie looked at Elena confused. Last she remember, Elena was head over heels in love with Damon and she was broken when he couldn't return back. So in her mind, Elena shouldn't even be asking a question like that about her boyfriend.

Caroline noticing the confusion decided to clear up the air.

"Elena had Alaric compel away her memories of loving Damon."

Bonnie hearing Caroline looked back at Elena surprised.

"Why would you do such a thing?" She asked.

Elena gave her a shrug. "I don't know. Everyone tells me that I did it so I can move on. I don't remember or know why I would need to do."

Bonnie looked at her trying to wrap the idea of this version of Elena.

Caroline decided for everyone when she said "it has been a long day for all of us so let us get some sleep and talk in the morning."

Everyone agreed and after giving a hug to Bonnie again, they all went to their respective beds. Everyone was plagued with their memories of the day. Caroline struggling with the death of Ivy and her feelings for Stefan. Elena was struggling with the knowledge that she is missing part of her memories of Damon that everyone including her best friend seems to be concerned about and her actions from that night. Bonnie was struggling with the memory of spending the last few months with the only person in the world with her and not having him with her anymore. Needless to say, nobody slept that night.

* * *

In the morning, Caroline woke up and left early in the morning. She and Bonnie sat down before she left and she caught up Bonnie on all the news that happened while she was away. About why she couldn't go to Mystic Falls without losing her magic and other updates. After Caroline left, Elena came back from taking a shower with her clothes.

"Are you going to school?" She asked wondering.

"Yeah. Sophomore year. I decided to go into medical field." She told her friend. Bonnie looked surprised.

"You never told me you were interested in medicine." She replied.

"It's what my dad did and it felt right." Elena explained. "And I have access to blood supplies anytime I want." Elena elaborated further.

"Ah." Bonnie nodded. That made more sense. Elena is a caring heart so Bonnie was sure she would make a good doctor one day.

"So what are you going to do today?" Elena asked Bonnie. She wondered what her friend would like to do now that she is back to the world of living.

"I am going to go research on how to bring back Damon." Bonnie said as a matter of fact. Elena looked up surprised from putting on her boots.

"What?" She asked not comprehending what she heard.

"Why are you surprised?" Bonnie asked. "It's just that why would you want to go through the trouble of rescuing Damon?" Elena asked confused.

Bonnie gave an exasperated sigh. All night long she had taken the time to wrap her mind with the idea of Elena erasing her memories. But the way she was acting wasn't the Elena she knew.

"Elena, I know you erased his memory. And I am not trying to judge you here. But the Damon I got to know over the last four months is worth saving." She declared to her confused friend. "I used to hate him for the things he did but in that four months, I saw another side of him. A side he rarely shows to anyone and that is the true Damon. The Damon you fell in love." She explained.

Elena still looked unconvinced. But instead of arguing with her friend who just came back from the dead, she decided to go to work. But before she could, Bonnie stood up in her way.

"Maybe you don't remember him but let me give you a glimpse of the Damon I saw." Bonnie said and held out her hands near Elena's temples.

"What are you doing?" Elena asked surprised at her friend's sudden movements. But before she got an answer, she was bombarded with a memory.

 _*****Memory*****_

 _Bonnie and Damon are lying in the porch of some house. After a moment, Elena realized that it was her old house they were sitting at. Damon was lying in the porch swing lazily while Bonnie was sitting in the steps. They both look relaxed and having a comfortable afternoon._

" _So what made you fall in love with Elena?" Bonnie asked all of a sudden. Damon turned from his slumber and looked at Bonnie surprised. Then he gave her his snarky grin._

" _Other than her being Stefan's girlfriend?" He asked waggling his eyebrows. Bonnie scoffed at his attempt to deflect._

" _Come on Damon. I'm being serious." She said in a serious voice. Damon also got serious when he noticed his deflection wasn't going to work._

" _Honestly?" he asked Bonnie. She nodded in confirmation. So he continued._

" _It was little things that caught my attention. Her ability to smile at humour when Stefan was always so serious. Her ability to sympathize for me when we didn't find Katherine in the tomb after everything I have done to her or her friends." He looked at Bonnie pointedly who smiled in response. "She saw more in me than what I was showing people around me. Even my own brother couldn't see through me but for some reason, Elena was able to see past all the façade and saw me." His voice becoming a whisper near the end while his eyes glistening with memories._

" _I was alone by myself for most of my vampire life and I got used to living that way. I couldn't go to Stefan because Lexi thought I was a bad influence on him. I didn't have anybody to share my life with because I didn't want anyone else but Katherine. So I got used to being selfish and care only about myself. I didn't have to worry about what others thought about me. Then here comes a girl who could see through the walls I had put up and after 100+ years, she was able to connect with who I used to be." He said wistfully._

" _So the Damon that you have been when you are with Elena is the real you?" Bonnie asked in a caring voice._

" _I don't know about the real and not real. Not really. All I know is that being with Elena makes me want to be the person she sees me to be. It is a person who she deserves to be with." He clarified._

 _*****End of Memory*****_

Elena fell to the ground from the sudden shock of the memory. Bonnie looked at her apologetically.

"I'm sorry Elena. I didn't want to ambush you but I needed you to see the real Damon and not the version you have in your head right now." She explained.

Elena struggling to get back to her feet managed to do so. "I've got to go now." She said and rushed out the door. Bonnie knowing her friend needs space let her be.

* * *

Once she reached the hospital and changed into her uniform, Elena called Alaric on his cell. He answered after a few rings.

"Hello."

"Alaric. This is Elena." She said breathlessly. She was still shaken from her experience in the morning.

"Elena. How are you doing?" Alaric asked concerned. He can hear the stress in her voice.

"I'm fine. Bonnie is back." Elena informed him. She wasn't sure if he knew.

"I know. Stefan called me earlier. He told me the whole story." Alaric said in a sombre tone. He missed his best friend ever since he came back.

"Everyone is pushing me to get my memories back." Elena said it as a fact. She feels everyone was ambushing her.

"Elena…" Alaric started with concern but Elena interrupted him. "Please Alaric. Promise me that you won't lift the compulsion." She pleaded.

"Elena. You only feel like that because I erased all the good parts." Alaric told her. Elena got a flash of the memory Bonnie showed her. If she wanted to be honest to herself, it frightened her. The intense desire she felt for Damon when she lived through that memory terrified her.

"I can't handle that now. I am happy where I am and I don't want to change anything." Elena declared. Alaric sighed on his side.

"Please promise me." Elena asked again.

"I won't ok? Not until you ask me to." Alaric conceded knowing Elena won't give up until he accepted it. Elena gave a breath of relief.

"But Elena?" Alaric said which halted her relief. "I hope you ask me." He said. She didn't reply back. Feeling uncomfortable, she tried to make an excuse to leave.

"I have to get back to work." She told him.

"If you are at work, can you do me a favour?" Alaric asked. She got curious and asked "What?"

"Keep an eye on Jo for me." He told her. She was confused and he tried to explain uncomfortably. "I compelled her to forget our date the other night and it didn't take. Either she's on vervain or there's some other reason. So find out if you can why." He asked her.

"Ok. Yeah I will. I need to call Jeremy and tell him Bonnie is back. I don't know how he's going to react." She told Alaric.

"Good luck." Alaric wished her and hung up the phone.

Elena hesitantly scrolled down the names to find Jeremy's number.

* * *

Bonnie knocked on Alaric's office door and he looked up at her. Surprised he welcomed her into his office. She stepped in and closed the door behind her.

"Welcome back to the world of living." Alaric said warmly.

"Thanks. It feels weird but feels right." She told him getting comfortable in her chair.

"So what can I do for you?" Alaric asked. He didn't know Bonnie that well before she died so he wasn't sure why she was there.

"Caroline told me that you had everyone looking for me and Damon since we went away." She said. Alaric nodded knowing where she could be going with this.

"I would like to go through your research. See if there's anything about the prison world in your research to bring Damon back." She told him.

"I wish there was Bonnie. But from all the research I was able to find, I don't recall any mention of a prison world let alone escaping from it." He said dejectedly.

"Can I have the files anyway? Maybe I can find something that was missed." She didn't want to give up without trying. It was her only chance.

"Sure. Let me get them for you." Alaric got up and found all the files with the research documents. He gathered them into a box for her to carry easily.

"Here you go. Careful it's heavy." He handed her the box. Bonnie lifted it after struggling for a grip. But before she could leave, Alaric called "Bonnie!"

She turned around to look at him.

"How was he? Was he happy?" Alaric asked. He didn't have to mention the name for Bonnie to know whom he was talking about.

"He was missing everyone he cared about. He constantly talked about all of you as if that kept all of you alive in his mind." She said. Alaric nodded in understanding. "He always filled two cups whenever he drank. I think that was his way of keeping you in his memory." She said. Alaric smiled softly at their memory of bonding together over drinks every time. Bonnie left with the books and went to the library to find a place to do her research.

* * *

Bonnie was going through the files in library when Jeremy found her.

"Bonnie?" Jeremy called in a soft voice still not believing she was there. Bonnie getting distracted turned from the file she was reading towards the voice.

"Oh my god Bonnie." Jeremy exclaimed and all but ran to her. She calmly got out of the chair and immediately she was enveloped in a hug. She patted his back uncomfortably.

"I'm ok.' Bonnie said and sat back down to go through the files again. Jeremy looked at her confused. She didn't seem excited as he was to be back together.

"Are you ok?" He asked questioningly.

"I'm fine Jeremy." At his unconvinced look, she said "Truly I am."

"What are you doing that's so important right now?" Jeremy asked. He wanted to know what could be more important than their reunion.

"I am looking for a way to get to the prison world so I can break Damon out." Bonnie informed him. Jeremy looked at her incredulously.

"Really? That's what's more important than us?" He raised his voice. People from far away from the table started to look up. Bonnie noticed it too.

"Please calm down. No need to shout." She told him harshly.

"You died Bonnie. You died without telling me that you can't come back. And now that you are, you are searching for Damon of all people?" Jeremy kept yelling. More people started staring and Bonnie started to feel uncomfortable. She got up, grabbed Jeremy by the arm and dragged him outside the library. Once there, she let him go and stared at him hard.

"I told you not to shout." Bonnie said sternly.

"I don't care. What's going on Bonnie? Why are you searching to rescue Damon?" Jeremy demanded answers. He needed answers after months of mourning Bonnie's death.

"He's my friend." Jeremy scoffed at that. "I owe it to him to rescue him." She said. She didn't want to go into detail. She felt like she was wasting valuable time not searching for a way to get to the prison world.

"Are you sleeping with him?" Jeremy asked rudely. Bonnie looked shocked that he could ask such a question. She refused to respond with an answer to that. She just turned her face away from him.

"Is that why you are in such a hurry to get him back?" He kept pushing. "He slept with Caroline and then he went after Elena. Now he got you too?" Jeremy should have seen the slap that was coming but he didn't and it caught him by surprise. Bonnie was seething with anger.

"You should go. And you should not come back." Bonnie warned Jeremy. Jeremy shook his head not believing that he was mourning her loss and she doesn't seem to even care.

"You're right. I won't. I need to go live my own life instead of mourning for losing you." He said his final words and walked away angry.

Bonnie stared at his back not feeling sorry at all. It seemed like after her time in the prison world, her emotions and feelings for Jeremy had faded away. She realized that the feelings she had for her was not the love that Damon and Elena had for each other. It wasn't passionate and consuming as they had it. It was comfortable and she didn't want to settle for that. She needed more. She thought she could have handled it better but after him throwing accusations at her, she couldn't take up the time to explain it to him. So she let him leave and felt it was for the best.

* * *

After dealing with Jo and being surprised by her discovery that she was a non-practicing witch, Elena called Stefan to check up on him. He was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that Damon was still alive. He mentioned that he had to do something and he sounded mysterious and urgent so Elena didn't push any further.

She did get a call from Jeremy who mentioned that he talked with Bonnie and it didn't go very well. Elena understood how they both must be feeling. Jeremy was burying himself with grief and Bonnie just got out of prison so she could be feeling anti-social at the moment. But the good thing seemed to be that Jeremy had decided to go to an art school in Santa Fe. Apparently he had decided not to wallow in self-pity or grief anymore and wanted more control in his life. He had already talked with Alaric and with his help, he has managed to let his principal graduate early. Elena later found out that Alaric had to compel the principal to allow Jeremy to graduate. She was sad that her brother was moving away at first but then Alaric convinced her that it was the best for Jeremy or otherwise he will be suffering in Mystic Falls.

Elena felt like many things were changing in her life once again. But she didn't want to be the one stopping her brother from having a life like she wants to. So in the end, she agreed to let Jeremy go. They were going to have a goodbye party later that day.

After her exhausting day, Elena walked back to her dorm room. What she didn't know was that Tripp and his vampire squad was coming there looking for Caroline. Ever since they found Caroline's number in Ivy's phone, they believed Caroline was a vampire too. She heard someone knocking and before she opened the door, someone crashed in surprising her. She looked at a man who was pointing a gun with some kind of liquid dart as the bullet. She knew it couldn't be good and unconsciously, she vamped out. Tripp noticing this shot at her. But thanks to her training with Damon and Alaric, her senses were high alert and she caught the dart before it impacted her. She threw it back at Tripp with vamp speed and it stung him in the shoulder. Using that distraction, she tried to escape through the door but as soon as she stepped out, she was stung by three darts from the other hunters standing in the corridor. They dragged her off away from the dorm.

* * *

Bonnie came to the dorm and immediately knew something was wrong. She thought she saw signs of struggle in the room and then she found a spent dart on the floor. After smelling it, she knew it was vervain. There could be only one reason for it to be in the room so she immediately called Caroline. Caroline picked up after the second ring and Bonnie let out the breath she has been holding in.

"Caroline are you ok?" Bonnie asked urgently.

"Yes I'm fine. What's wrong?" Caroline asked noticing the worry in Bonnie's voice.

"I'm at the dorm and there are signs of struggle and a dart with vervain on the floor." She said quickly. Then she realized the other roommate could have been the victim. She didn't think of Elena initially because Elena said she was at work but Bonnie didn't know what time she was supposed to be off.

"Wait a minute. Let me call Elena." She put Caroline on hold and tried to call Elena. The phone kept ringing with no answer.

"I can't reach her." Bonnie said panicking.

"Calm down. Let's ask Alaric to check if Elena is at the hospital." Caroline said. "I'll call you back." And then she hung up.

Bonnie sat in the bed nervously waiting for the call to hear about her friend. After a few minutes, Caroline called her back. Waiting a few seconds hesitating to hear the news, Bonnie answered.

"Alaric said Jo told him that Elena finished her shift in the afternoon and went back to the dorm." Caroline said worried. "And Matt said that our local vampire hunter had gotten hold of my phone number."

"Wait what? There's a vampire hunter here?" Bonnie asked shocked. She must be way behind on the news update.

"Sorry no time to explain. He must have Elena." Caroline said quickly.

"Let me do a locator spell." Bonnie offered.

"Ok. I will tell my mother to block all the roads to Mystic falls." Caroline said. Bonnie was confused at what that meant but then she remembered about the bubble surrounding Mystic Falls.

They both hung up their phones and Bonnie took out the stuff she needed to do a locator spell. She was able to find Elena's tracking in-between Whitmore and Mystic Falls. She realized what Caroline suspected was true.

She informed Caroline about what she found and Caroline was going to pick her up while Stefan and Alaric go searching in the other road to enter Mystic Falls. She waited impatiently worried about her friend.

* * *

Elena woke up with a bad headache in a bumpy ride. At first she didn't know where she was but then her memories came back to her.

"Hello Love" she heard a voice calling out to her. She squinted her eyes and looked in the direction from where the voice came. After a moment, the cobwebs cleared up and she saw Enzo chained up to the roof of the vehicle which seems to be a van.

"Enzo? What are you doing here?" She asked confused.

"Well, I am chained to the van going towards my doom thanks to your ex." Enzo said.

"Damon?" Elena asked even more confused. 'Why would Enzo be in trouble because of Damon?'

"Didn't realize he was your ex love." Enzo said. "I guess it's your previous ex then."

Then Elena understood what he meant. She knew about Enzo killing and turning Stefan's girlfriend Ivy but she didn't realize he retaliated by turning Enzo in to the vampire hunter. A hunter she wasn't aware of. Guess she was out of the loop for too long.

"Why didn't Stefan tell me?" She wondered out loud.

"Doesn't really matter does it? We are both going to be dead in a few minutes anyway." He said. He couldn't see a way out of his predicament and he has been trying ever since he was put in the van.

Elena turned around and realized she was also handcuffed to a rail in the van. She noticed that the van was speeding towards Mystic Falls if she understood Enzo's hints.

She wanted to start fresh and live a happy life and now her life is going to be shortened to mere minutes.

But then the van started to slow down. She heard voices and after listening carefully, she was happy to realize it was Alaric's voice.

"Who's that?" Enzo asked.

"It's Alaric. We are not done yet. He will get us out of this." She said convinced. She had full faith in Alaric.

But then all of a sudden, the van jerked forward and started to speed up. It crashed hard and she was thrown to the floor. She realized she was over the border when she started feeling like she was drowning. A sensation she hadn't felt for a long time. She looked up when she saw Enzo's mouth was getting filled with blood.

Elena thought that was it but out of nowhere, she started to see visions. Flashes of random images or moments went by like a fast forwarding movie. She couldn't make sense of it except noticing that she saw Damon in many of the images. Then the door to the van was ripped open and Stefan was standing there. He broke her from the handcuffs and before he could lead her out, she pointed to Enzo. With an exasperated sigh, Stefan broke him free and drag them both along. Elena was struggling to walk with the images and feelings that was overwhelming her and blinding her. Stefan had to half drag her to the edge of the border and all three fell to the ground. Elena's eyes cleared up from the flashes and she noticed Stefan had been bleeding if his shirt was any sign of indication.

Stefan was staring at something and she turned around to notice that Alaric was on the ground and Jo was working on saving him. She didn't know what was happening as they were too far for her to hear and she couldn't go help either. She felt completely helpless.

After a few minutes, Jo got up and gave a thumbs up sign to them which relaxed both Stefan and Elena from the tension they were feeling. Jo came to them.

"I need to take Alaric to the hospital. You better clear away from here before the police showed up." She said looking at their conditions. With all the bleeding signs on them, there will be a lot of questions they will have to answer. So Stefan nodded and led both Elena and reluctant Enzo towards the only car available.

The car ride was filled with silence as nobody had anything to say. Stefan and Enzo were not speaking to one another and Elena was lost in her thoughts. She was trying to make sense of the feelings and images she got. It was like a mangled puzzle set and she didn't know how to put it back. But something inside her was pushing her to put it back. A feeling she couldn't understand or explain to herself. What she realized at the end was that she needed her memories back. If she ever wanted to make sense of the feelings and images, she needed the complete picture. She decided to ask Alaric once he was released from the hospital.

* * *

When Stefan dropped her, Bonnie and Caroline at Whitmore hospital so they can check up on Alaric, she was nervous. Bonnie was glad she was ok and safe from the magic border and she was overjoyed when Elena told her that she wanted her memories back.

They all walked into the hospital room where they had Alaric. Caroline asked during the drive why they would admit a vampire into the hospital and Elena wondered the same. But she came to the conclusion that it was Jo who wanted to do it as a means to feed him blood. They reached the room and Elena hesitated to go in. It was going to be a very big moment in her life and she wasn't sure if she was doing the right thing. Bonnie and reluctant Caroline decided to stay back and give Elena the privacy she needed. Elena finally got the courage and opened the door to the room.

What she saw inside surprised her. Instead of a healthy Alaric drinking blood, what she saw was an Alaric hooked up to the machines and an IV tube. He was however conscience so he greeted her with a smile.

"Hey." He said softly.

"What's going on? Why aren't you drinking blood instead of being hooked onto the IV tubes?" She enquired confused.

Alaric grimaced and didn't answer immediately.

Elena realizing she was going to chicken out before she could make her request decided it was now or never.

"Alaric. I need you to do me a favour." She told him. Alaric looked at her questioningly. "I want you to lift the compulsion. I want my memories back." She told him and started looking at the wall so she doesn't need to look him in the eye. She felt strange asking him that when earlier the day she asked for the exact opposite.

"I mean, I can't imagine ever loving Damon, but I also can't ignore the parts I don't like just to avoid the truth. I mean how could I make any decisions if I only know half the story?" She rambled on not looking at Alaric directly. "When I crossed the border today, I felt some feelings and flashes of images that I can't make sense of. I need to know what I can't remember." She turned back to look at Alaric. If possible, he looked even more pained than before. Something was terribly wrong with him.

"What's wrong? Are you alright?" Elena asked worried.

"Elena…" Alaric said softly like he was in severe pain. "I'm so sorry."

"Sorry? Sorry for what?" She asked not understanding. He couldn't be sorry about the compulsion since he was an Alpha vampire and can lift the compulsion. So she didn't understand why he would apologize to her.

"I'm human Elena." Alaric told her. She couldn't comprehend what she heard. It must be some kind of mistake.

"When I crossed the border, I lost the magic that made me a vampire. Jo saved me as a human." Alaric explained. His explanation cleared up her earlier unanswered questions about the drips and the machine.

"Oh." She whispered. She didn't realize she would feel the loss of the memories she doesn't remember having this deeply.

"I am terribly sorry Elena. I wish I could do something." Alaric kept apologizing.

Elena shook herself out of her disappointment. No point letting Alaric feel guilty for her decisions. "No, no, no, Alaric. I'm just glad that you're okay. I mean, up until an hour ago, I didn't even want my memories to return. I was the one who made the choice to lose them. Now I have to live with the fact that you can't give them back to me. I know how much you hated being a vampire, so I'm just glad one of us got what we wanted."

"Yeah. I am surprised to be alive at all." Alaric said in wonder.

"Jo's a keeper." Elena said smiling. But Alaric noticed that her smile didn't reach to her eyes as it usually does.

Jo came into the room followed by Bonnie and Caroline. They both were surprised like Elena when they saw the IV drips and the machines and Alaric's condition. Jo noticing their surprise clarified it to them.

"All the magic was sucked out of him and made him human."

They both were surprised to hear that. Then the implications of the news hit them. Bonnie looked at Elena worried and Elena gave a slight shake of head that signed 'Not Here'. Before Caroline not recognizing the subtle sign and ask the questions, Bonnie gripped her hand shutting her up. She looked at Bonnie who gave a shake of her head hoping Caroline understood it which she did.

All three left the room and once they were out and the door was closed, Elena was hugged tight by her friends. She felt like tears were filling up her eyes and she didn't know why. They held onto each other for a few minutes until Elena got her emotions in check. With a pretended smile, she looked at her friends.

"Let's go back. Today is supposed to be Jeremy's send off and I need to be there for him."

Caroline and Bonnie nodded and left with Elena.

* * *

Elena was genuinely happy to spend some time with her brother before he left. He was able to lift some of the weight she was feeling in her heart at the loss of her memory. They shared old memories and even smoked a joint Jeremy had found in Damon's room since he was living at the Salvatore mansion. She promised to call him every weekend and even gifted him her car as a going away/graduation gift.

Jeremy said his good byes to everyone. Bonnie kept her distance from him and they both gave a nod to one another when he left. Stefan was driving him to the bus stop that takes him to New Mexico.

After Jeremy left, Elena lied down in her bed trying to recall all the images she saw and the feelings she felt when she saw them. There was a memory stronger than others that had something to do with falling stars and rain and a look of pure happiness in Damon's face and the feeling she felt to that memory was too strong to put into words. She kept replaying that partial memory again and again in her head when she fell asleep.

* * *

 **A/N:** Some of you may feel that the Jeremy/Bonnie relationship is not like the show. But it is my view based on Bonnie's reaction before she died and after she returned. Jeremy in early seasons when in grief was not himself and was an asshole. And Bonnie was just back from Prison world and she did feel anti-social (remember lighting a guy in fire?). So I used those two together to end their relationship.

There was no Damon in this chapter. There was no Bonnie in the episode as well. I wanted to focus on Bonnie and Elena this chapter. He will make his appearance next chapter. Don't worry.

Please Review. It is very much appreciated.


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